


Outside of the Box

by Zetharin



Category: Stephanie Plum - Janet Evanovich
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 17:11:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5425154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zetharin/pseuds/Zetharin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephanie swears off men but her hormones disagree and Lester convinces her that swearing off ‘normal’ sex doesn’t mean that everything else has to be off of the table.  There are times when thinking outside of the box is fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Outside of the Box

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this short came while listening to “The Loophole” by Garfurkel and Oates. You can go listen to it on youtube if you want. I’ll wait. Done? Okay. 
> 
> The beginning of this was originally posted on fanfiction.net but this is the first time I am posting the complete story. Note that the 4th section includes an explicit sex scene involving 3 people so if you don't enjoy those, skip this story.
> 
> Standard disclaimer: The characters and world are not mine. I'm playing in Janet Evanovich's world, with her characters and not making any money

Part 1 - **Just a Touch**

 

Three months ago, I was sitting in my parent’s dining room on a Saturday afternoon.  I had stopped in at Joe’s to see if Bob needed out.  Joe and I were on again but Joe said he was working, which is why he wasn’t spending the day with me.  Well, he may have been busy with something.  Two women probably needed a lot of attention.  But he wasn’t working at the TPD and I couldn’t get the images out of my head.  I had gone over to my parents’ house in a daze at first but quickly turned angry.

“That’s it.  I’m done. I’m swearing off of men for good,” I told my grandma Mazur.  

She patted my shoulder awkwardly.  We weren’t an overly demonstrative family.  “That Joe Morelli is a horse’s ass.  And that bounty hunter with the nice package is confused.  You’ll find someone baby granddaughter.  Give it time.”

“You should come to church with us tomorrow,” my mom added as she sat a piece of pie and a short wide glass of dark liquid in front of me.  The apple pie was still warm from the oven and topped with ice cream and a drizzle of caramel.  I moaned as I took my first bite.  Then tears threatened as I recognized my own moan as very similar to the one Terry had been making when I caught her with Morelli and that woman I didn’t recognize in his kitchen.  I took a gulp of the dark liquid and the icy alcohol burned down my throat.  “You could confess to the priest and make a pledge.  They have these purity rings for women who have gone astray and wish to wait for marriage to have sex again.”

“I’m not getting married again, mom.”

“Widow Duncan got herself a purity ring and got her hymen repaired.  Didn’t last more than a few months before she got married to Mr. Kowalski because he was so excited to be with a virgin,” Grandma said.  “You should do that.”

“I’m not having surgery on my hooha grandma.”

“Well, you said you wanted to swear off men,” mom pointed out.

“It’s just a mindset,” I protested.  “I’m not going to worry about a boyfriend or men at all right now.  I’m going to work on me and get more friendly with my gun and better at my job.”

“Then it can’t hurt to confess and get the purity ring, can it?” mom asked.  “You can look at it and pray.  Lean on God a little when things get hard.”

Somehow, they convinced me to do it and that Sunday, I made my pledge and got my silver purity ring band. It had a little cross engraved on the outside and the inside said, “love waits.”  Monday, I had picked up my files at Vinnie’s.  Then with renewed enthusiasm, I called Rangeman Trenton and asked if someone would have any time to help me in the shooting range.  They were pretty enthusiastic about the idea.  Tank had been left in charge of Trenton when Ranger took off for Miami and I didn’t want to take advantage of the merry men so we worked out an agreement.  I spent part of each day doing searches, part training, and the rest of the time working on my skips.  Frequently, I had a volunteer partner to chase after my skips with me.

Three months of overdosing on the eye candy at Rangeman with no relief in sight had been slow torture.  The buildup had my hormones working on overtime.  It was only a question of time before they overrode my good sense.

Lester and Erik had been talking shit to each other.  I couldn’t understand the spanish words but their tone and body language was clear.  Erik had gotten into Lester’s personal space a little.  I think for intimidation factor  but I moaned picturing them a little closer together than that.  Traitorous hormones.  Lester’s sharp eyes found mine, studied my face and the way I was sitting with my legs crossed primly but squeezing slightly so I could rock against the seam of my jeans.  He said something fast to Erik that made the other man chuckle slightly.  

A few days later, Lester and I were alone in a bronco on a stakeout and for once, he was the chatty one and I wanted to just be quiet.  “So beautiful, tell me about the purity ring?”

“It’s supposed to be like a commitment to wait until marriage.  No sex.  It’s like the mindset of a virgin again but harder because virgins don’t know what they’re missing.”

“Why do that?”

“I really need to concentrate on me right now, Lester.  I don’t need to be looking for a boyfriend.”

“That’s fair but why do you need to be unhappy to concentrate on you?”

“It’s just no sex.  It’s not the end of the world.”

“You’ve been masturbating a lot then?”

“Lester!  I’m not talking about this.”  I felt my face heat up but he didn’t look at me.  He kept his eyes on the skip’s apartment building.  That made it a little easier.  “I’ve been trying not to.  Well, mostly.  I mean, like, I’m supposed to be like a virgin.  Virgins worry about staying, intact, you know?  No penetration.  So herbert horsecock has to stay in his drawer.”

“A little vibe maybe?” he suggested.  “Or your showerhead?”

“Uh…”

“Come on, Beautiful, tell me all about it.  You liked seeing Erik and I really close the other day.  Do you fantasize about two men together or with you?”

“I can’t talk about that,” I insisted.  I couldn’t even figure out how to describe my reaction to the discussion he seemed determined to have with me.  And hearing him try to get me to talk about it kinda made me hot.  I blamed it on the lure of the forbidden.  I crossed my legs, shifted in the seat a little so the seam of my pants rubbed my clit.  I couldn’t resist but as a response, settled on, “Masturbation alone isn’t much fun.”  I could tell he wasn’t satisfied with that response.  “You wouldn’t tell me about your sexual fantasies,” I said, while hoping that I was wrong.

“I went to catholic school,” he told me.  The girls there were all about keeping an intact hymen for their marriage bed.  The purity ring is so sexy and a challenge.  There’s a lot you can do without having anything in your pussy.”

I squirmed in my seat.  I wasn’t sure if I was uncomfortable with this or turned on.  It was too dark for me to tell what his physical reaction to the conversation was but his tone was low and pure sex.  

“Do you want suggestions, Beautiful?”

“Lester.  Please.”  If asked, I would have sworn that I was begging him to stop but I didn’t really want him to stop.  He kept talking and kept watching the skip’s house.  He took my hand and ran his fingers over my skin lightly, giving me contact.  As he told me about the things he wanted to do to me, he pulled my hand gradually until I could feel the hardness of him outlined in his cargo pants.  

“Feel what you do to me beautiful?  And you feel good too.  I can tell by the way you squeeze your sexy little legs together, pinching your clit.  And this isn’t sex.  Your imaginary hymen stays intact.”  I looked up into his eyes and his expression was openly lustful and pure bad boy.  I had to look away from the intensity of it.  

“There’s the skip,” I said.

Lester cursed but we were both quick to get out of the bronco and we hauled the skip in without much trouble.  It was one of mine, not a Rangeman skip.  Piece of cake but the mood was broken.

The next day I had finished working in the gun range with Ram and on a few escape moves with Brett and was going up to four.  Tank had moved up to seven since he was in charge of Trenton Rangeman now.  It was another sign that Ranger wouldn’t be back.  Usually I used an open apartment on four to shower but a new recruit was moving into the last vacant one that day.  Lester was coming out of his apartment as I tried to figure out what to do.  “Use my shower, Beautiful,” he told me.  Then when I was really close to him, he added extra softly, “I want to be able to think about you in there.” In a louder voice, he continued, “Let me just grab you a clean towel.”

I thanked him and followed him into the bathroom and somehow ended up between him and the sink.  He lifted me up a little to sit on it, leaning in to kiss me breathless. I grabbed a fistful of his shirt when he tried to pull back.  “More,” I pleaded.   A hard thigh found its way between my legs and he thrust gently, alternating the amount of pressure until I came.  “That was a freebie,” he told me.  “Got to go before I’m late.  Enjoy my shower massager.”  He was gone before I calmed completely down from the orgasm.  I showered and went upstairs to work on my searches.  He wasn’t on site but as I was leaving, he was returning.  He greeted me the same as the other men did, not one hint of what was happening with us.  I comforted myself with a pint of Ben & Jerry's and the thought that my imaginary hymen was still intact.  What we had done had been a hell of a lot of fun for me but it wasn’t sex. 

****  
  


Part 2 - **Just a Taste**

It was girls night.  I had gone out with Mary Lou and Connie and Lula to a club and then a second club and maybe there had been a third.  I had downed too many brightly colored  drinks that hadn’t tasted at all like alcohol.  Sweet and warm and fuzzy.  Connie’s cousin, Andrew, was part of the group of goons charged with babysitting our drunk asses and he asked me where I wanted to go when we left the last club.  

“Drink and dance and laugh and lie.  Love the reeling midnight through,” I told him.  I was sure I was quoting from somewhere but my fuzzy brain didn’t know from where or why.  “For tomorrow we may die,” I finished triumphantly.

“But alas, we never do,” a voice finished for me.  Lester.  “Dorothy Parker.  You’re not going to die tonight, Beautiful.  You’re safe.  I’m here.”

“Ms. Plum?” Andrew asked again.  “Where do you want to go?”  

“She’s not leaving with you,” Lester told him.  “She’s coming with me.”

“Ms. Rosolli told me to take Ms. Plum home,” Andrew insisted.  “I follow orders.”

“Is okay, Andy,” I said.  I threw my arms around Lester’s neck.  “He’ll take me home.”

“Alright, Ms. Plum,” he agreed.  He was no Merry Man.  Just hired muscle who would take orders.  It apparently didn’t occur to him to argue.  “Have a nice night.”  And then he was gone.  

Lester’s arms supported me, cradled my bonelessly drunk self.  I cuddled against him.  I was sure he had found the club to pick up some woman for a one night stand.  Lester the playboy.  But he had chosen to take care of me instead of picking a girl for the night.  He might not ever be a boyfriend or long term material but he cared about me.  In his own way.  Those mental words sparked a core of hurt within me so I pushed them away.  I didn’t have to think about that tonight.  

“Do you want to go back to your apartment now, Beautiful?” Lester asked me.  

“No,” I disagreed.  “Stay with you.  Don’t leave me.  Everyone leaves me.”

“I’m here, Beautiful,” Lester told me.  

“We’re here,” a second voice added.  I looked up to see Erik watching us closely.  Must have been Lester’s back up for the night.  They never even partied alone.  They talked for a bit in spanish, the words flowing over me without comprehension but gentle.  It didn’t matter what they were discussing.  They’d never leave me alone there or hurt me in any way.  I was safe, much safer than I would have been with Connie’s babysitter.  

“Just tell us what you want to do,” Lester finally said in English.

“Stay with me,” I pleaded.  The world was fuzzy and spinning.  I needed to do anything not to be alone.

“Let’s take her back to my place,” Erik suggested.  

“Yeah,” Lester agreed.  “She wouldn’t want to be on the Rangeman cameras like this.”

We got into an SUV.  Lester held me in the backseat because I clung to him, refusing to let go.  Erik drove.  The area we ended up in wasn’t a nice area.  Dangerous for a woman alone at night though not as bad as Stark Street during the day.  The alcohol was filtering out enough that I knew where we were.

“Why here?” I asked.  

“It’s safe,” Erik told me.  “No one will mess with me.  Everyone minds their own business and doesn’t mess with anyone else’s business.  Privacy even when you’re surrounded by people.”

We went in and up too many stairs for me to count.  Lester ended up carrying me.  I was so tired.  It was a scary place to be for a woman alone at night but I wasn’t alone.  These two would never let anything bad happen to me.  They tucked me into a bed.  I heard them discussing floor vs couch.  I’m not sure who won that coin toss because I wouldn’t let go of Lester.  “Stay with me,” I insisted again.

“Alright, Beautiful,” he told me.  “Just let me get undressed.”  I liked that idea.  He stripped to his boxers and Erik did the same before leaving the room, presumably to sleep on his own couch.  I didn’t care what he was doing.  When he climbed into bed, I cuddled against him, my head in the special spot on his shoulder.  His arm wrapped around me and holding me to his side.  His other arm held the remote and he found a movie on the small TV on the dresser.  “I’ve got you, Steph,” he told me, kissing the top of my head.  “Sleep for a bit.”  I did.

When I woke up again, the TV was still on but the arm around me was slack.  They must have come to some agreement.  Maybe Erik was awake and on watch.  Maybe they both believed in the safety and anonymity of this small apartment in the bad area of town.  Either way, I was safe with them and horny as hell.  My leg was thrown over Lester’s and I rocked a bit to feel my clit pinched between my body and his leg.  It felt amazing and I wanted to make him feel good too.  I wasn’t sure how much alcohol was left in my system.  Definitely enough to relax me, lower my inhibitions, but I wasn’t really drunk anymore.  I knew what I was doing.  I hadn’t been ruled by my hormones for months now but with a little alcohol added in, they were winning the battle.  I knew he cared about me enough to help me out here and I wasn’t breaking my promise to myself.  It wouldn’t be sex.  We wouldn’t go that far and he knew that i drew the line there.  Was it so bad to want a little closeness and intimacy?  

I sucked on the nipple closest to me, rolling the other between my fingers.   Lester groaned and opened his eyes.  Then my hand wandered down his chest, playing briefly with the top of his boxers and the hair on his thighs before sliding back up and cupping his balls, squeezing gently.  

“Beautiful, you’re drunk,” Lester protested, his hand closing around my forearm like he was going to make me stop.  I tightened my hand around his balls warningly.  He couldn’t have pulled my hand away without hurting himself too.  When he relaxed his grip, I stroked his cock as I kissed my way down his chest.  After I maneuvered him free of his boxers, I closed my mouth around his head, licking and sucking.  His hands fisted on the covers.  

“Stephanie,” he managed to force out.  “I don’t want you to be pissed at me in the morning.”

I lifted my head away from his body long enough to tell him, “I won’t be mad.  It’s not sex after all.  I owe you one.”  Then my mouth covered him again and distracted him enough that he couldn’t argue anymore. His hand found it’s way between my legs, playing with my clit.  My lips moved against his cock as I reminded him, “No penetration,” before leaning back down to tease his cock more with my tongue.  

“I remember,” He agreed in a husky voice.  “Just trust me and let yourself go.”  I did and we raced each other to the peak.  Later, the satisfied afterglow lured me to sleep cradled in Lester’s arms with the taste of him in my mouth.  

****  
  


Part 3 - **Just Watching**

The next morning was surprisingly un-awkward.  Erik sat on the side of the bed and woke me with the cure.  I thought at first that Lester was gone but he was in the shower, needing to rush to get in for his shift.  I whined about my aching head and munched on fries in between gulps of cola.  Erik listened patiently.  Lester kissed my head before he left.  Erik finished feeding me and then took me back to my car.  

“You two are good for each other,” Erik told me once I proved that I could get my POS to start.

“We’re not, like, dating or anything,” I told Erik.  

“Maybe dating isn’t a good word for it but it’s a lot healthier than that shit you did with Ranger.”

“What do you know about me and Ranger?” I interrupted him sharply.   

“Just what everyone local to Trenton knows.  Your back and forth between him and the cop.  The alley stories.  The way he took off to Miami as soon as it was clear you and the cop were done for good.”

“Okay, and…?” I asked, torn between humiliated that everyone knew how Ranger had abandoned me and curious about where he was going with this.

“Maybe you’re not forever with Lester or even pretending to be forever.  That’s okay.  You care about each other and you’re honest about your intent.”  I stared at him.  I hadn’t realized Erik could talk so much.  He must have used up his allotment of words though because he just closed my door for me and left.  

Work stayed normal with Lester for the next few weeks.  If we saw each other, he was his usual flirty friendly self that he had always been.  He was always easy and interesting to spend time with.  In our off time, we spent a few evenings together talking or making out, still stopping short of sex.   I was really enjoying the closeness and intimacy of having that type of friend.  I was even starting to be a little more comfortable discussing my desires and fantasies with Lester.  Neither Ranger nor Joe had really gotten to know me that way.  The … extras … with Lester hadn’t affected our friendship in a negative way or our ability to work together.   They had enhanced it.  I also had a blast when he took me out dancing with Erik and a few other Merry Men one Saturday night.  Lester didn’t get all crazy caveman jealous like Joe or Ranger tended be.  He just let me have my fun.  

Then one day after I had showered in his apartment, he was brushing my hair and he brought it up.  “We’ve been enjoying each other, right?”

“Definitely,” I agreed.

“And you say for you the line is your imaginary hymen.  No penetration that would break it.”

“Yup.”

“Would you consider anal sex?”  Before I could protest, his hand reached around my head and covered my mouth lightly.  “Let me finish.”  I nodded and he released me, returning to gently taming my curls.  “Lots of high school girls call anal sex God’s loophole.  They keep their vaginal virginity.  I know this means more to you than just something to please your parents.  I don’t want to push you where you don’t want to go.  But can we discuss the possibility that it’s not sex either?”

“Lester, butt stuff is penetration.  That’s sex, even if my imaginary hymen wouldn’t be broken.  Besides.  I don’t do butt stuff.  It hurts.”

“It doesn’t hurt if your partner is considerate, Beautiful,” Lester said.  “Would I ever hurt you?”

“Not on purpose.”

“So trust me a little.”

“Look, if you put something the size of your own dick in your own ass, you can tell me it doesn’t hurt and we can talk about it but until then, it’s not an option.”

“Okay.  Do you want to watch or do you want pictures for proof or what?”

“You agreed to that way too easily.”

Lester just gave me the playboy grin.  “I’ve tried lots of things you probably have never considered.  I’m still loving this exploration with you.  Want to go to Pleasure treasures over lunch with me to pick out a dildo?”

I felt myself turn bright red.  He was serious and appeared to be looking forward to it.  I wondered what I had gotten myself into.  “We’d better go after work instead.  I don’t think Tank would appreciate the two of us being so distracted by our new toy that we ended up hurt by a skip.”  

“Okay,” he agreed easily.  I handed him a small covered rubber band and he secured the bottom of my second french braid.  We had discovered that he couldn’t get one french braid tight enough to hold my curls under control but two french braids and a good gel could do it.  Erik teased me occasionally about the pigtails but mostly, no one said anything.  For office work or takedowns other than distractions, it was a practical style.  Distractions needed a lot more effort but I didn’t need to do them as often anymore.  

Later, we ended up picking up dildos matched in size.  The one intended for him was molded glass.  The one intended for me was softer, the same size, but it was the triple pleasure rabbit type of vibrator.  My physical hymen was already broken  so that wasn’t really a worry and using a dildo on myself was masturbation, not really sex.  It had those soft wiggling ears for my clit, a large Lester size part for vaginal penetration, and a small attached vibrator that could be used for anal penetration at the same time.  Even the thought made me nervous but that part of the vibrator was really small and flexible and I didn’t HAVE to actually put it in if I didn’t want to.  We also picked up lube and condoms.  Lester was far too comfortable in there but his nonchalance helped me get through it.  By the time we checked out, I had almost forgotten that someone was sure to tell my mom about this before morning.

We stopped at Pino’s to grab subs for dinner on the way back to my apartment.  I worried a bit that everyone knew and was looking at me but Lester assured me that it was only my guilt talking and there was nothing to feel guilty about.  We weren’t having sex.  I was keeping my vow.  

Later, after we had eaten, we showered together.  ‘Not sex,’ I reminded myself.  And it wasn’t.  He washed my hair.  I scrubbed his back.  That he got hard and I could feel the pulse of my clit demanding more meant nothing.  Sex was intent and penetration.  This was taking care of each other.  This was talking and maybe too close to love for my comfort.  But it wasn’t sex.  I cuddled against him, naked skin to naked skin, loving the closeness and the feel of him until the water started to grow cold.  

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Lester asked.  “I know I was pushing earlier.”

If we didn’t do something, I felt like I would explode.  “No touching,” I replied, setting the ground rules.  

“I won’t touch you,” he agreed, dropping my hand before sitting on the bed and reaching for the Pleasure Treasures bag.  “You can feel free if you want to touch me,” he added.  I nodded my understanding and sat down diagonally at the far corner from where he was.  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.  Just watch.  That was the deal.”

“Yes,” I agreed.  “I’ll watch you prove to me that it doesn’t have to hurt because you want to be buried to the hilt in my butt.”

I took my triple pleasure rabbit vibe when he handed it to me, then watched mostly in curiosity as he slid a condom onto the glass dildo and then added some lube to it before laying it on my bedside table.  His erection from the shower didn’t begin to diminish as he used the hand with lube to probe around his own backdoor.  His other hand pinched one of his nipples, then drifted south to cup his balls.  His lubricated fingers slid in and out.  The position looked awkward but his free hand touched his erection and he didn’t seem to be in pain.  

Then he reached for the glass dildo and inserted it slowly.  He made a slight sound at first penetration and stopped.  I couldn’t decide if it was a pain sound or not.  All of his muscles were tense.  After a moment, he relaxed.  He pumped the dildo in and out a few times, matching the tempo with strokes on his cock.  The moan that followed was definitely pleasure and not pain.  My fingers found their way to my clit and I started playing with it as I watched him.  He seemed mostly focused on his own pleasure, not me, so I felt bold as I split my attention between his pleasure and my own until his eyes locked with mine.  

“Are you going to try the rabbit?” he asked me.

I felt suddenly shy.  “I’m not sure,” I admitted after a moment.

“Please?” he pushed gently.  His hand stilled on his cock, like whether he decided to continue hinged on whether I decided to use the rabbit.  Technically he had fulfilled his part of the bargain.  The dildo, which was slightly bigger than Lester’s own cock, had been the whole way inside his ass and it clearly hadn’t hurt too much for him to enjoy the experience.  

My hand that had been working at my clit paused long enough for me to insert the rabbit’s main portion and turn it on.  The vibration started inside of my pussy and the rabbit’s ears hit my clit, flicking it in a way that was just right.  That and watching Lester rub his cock while sliding the dildo in and out of his ass pushed me from the halfway point to on the verge of orgasm very quickly.  It was hot but more than that, there was a mental high of knowing that he trusted me this much to show me something that was supposed to be private and knowing that I was offering him the same sort of private show.  I bumped the wrong control on the rabbit and the part of the vibrator that was designed to be in my ass began to vibrate too where it was pressed against my hole.  It wasn’t inside but those nerve endings must have been more sensitive than I had ever realized.  

“Close?” I heard Lester asking as I went over the edge.  

“Now,” I responded.  Somehow, he managed to cum just after me and as I came down from my orgasmic high, I got to watch him shoot all over his own chest.  The first pulse almost reached his chin; the next few were less impressive but still copious.  I had never seen that much cum from him.  I was surprised to realize that having the dildo in his ass must have felt super amazing. I wondered if it would be the same for me.  I didn’t have a prostate but there were a lot of nerves back there.  It was sensitive.  For the first time, I was seeing past my instinctive fear of butt stuff and wondering.  I moved across the bed in the aftermath, cuddling close to him.  The rabbit dropped to the floor, mostly forgotten.  

 

When I woke, the bedroom had a pre-dawn gray tinge that I only saw when Ranger woke me to go running.  Someone I couldn’t identify stood in the doorway of my bedroom, observing me and Lester.  We were both still naked, though the bedspread covered most of the important parts.  I was mortified to realize that the rabbit I had used the previous night was on the floor in plain sight and so was the glass dildo Lester had used, condom still on it.  Before I could try to talk to the person in the doorway, Lester woke up.  In one smooth move, he pulled a gun out from under the pillow and pointed it at the person in the doorway.  

“Talk, leave, or die,” he threatened.  The figure held out his hands to show that he wasn’t holding a weapon.

“If I was going to hurt you, you’d already be dead,” the figure pointed out.  “Too slow and careless to take care of her properly.”

Part 4 **\- Tarnished Halo** \- _removing the ring_

I knew that voice.  As the sleep fogginess cleared from my head, I also recognized the tense body language of a trained man ready to react if necessary to the threat and the tingle on the back of my neck.  Ranger.

“I’m doing a better job than you were,” Lester replied to him calmly, lowering his gun and tucking it away somewhere.  “I’m glad you’re back to help though.”

“Ranger?” I asked.  “Why are you back?”

An expression that may have been hurt flitted across Ranger’s face and was gone.  He sat on the edge of the bed, so I could only see his profile and had less chance of reading his face after that.  I tucked myself more firmly under the covers and against Lester.  “

He was silent, sitting with his shoulders slumped, staring at the rabbit vibe in his hands.  I would have guessed that his body language said defeated if it had been anyone other than Ranger.  Batman could never be defeated.  The silence stretched until I fidgeted and Lester’s expression as he studied Ranger became concerned.

“What’s up?” Lester asked him softly.  “Problem?”

Ranger rubbed one hand over his face.  Then he carefully laid down on top of the covers in the narrow space between me and the edge of the bed.  Lester backed up a bit, pulling me with him to give Ranger a little more room but he kept his arm around me.  Ranger was kissably close to me.  I could see in his eyes the moment he decided to do it.  I was naked in another man’s arms and he kissed me.  I forgot how to think, how to breathe.  It was one of Ranger’s sizzling panty melting kisses and he was back home.  There was no hope of resisting the pull of the attraction that tied me to him.  Against my back, I felt more than heard the vibration of Lester’s low chuckle.  

“I was wondering when you’d give in and be back,” Lester said.

Ranger drew back from me enough to try to glare at Lester but he couldn’t quite manage it.  There was too much happy on his face to be threatening.  “No one told me that I’d find you in her bed.”

“You didn’t want any news,” Lester replied.  “You were gone.”

“I’m back.”

“Too late,” I replied, putting my hands against his chest but not shoving because I didn’t want to push him off of the bed.  It felt oddly safe and wonderful to be between them.  

“I missed you, Babe,” Ranger told me, watching me intently.  I wanted to tell him that I had missed him too but the words choked me.  I shifted to be more on my back between them so I could look at Lester, concerned that he would be hurt or upset or blank because Ranger was inviting himself into my bed again.  Lester wasn’t any of those things.  I remembered when we had gone out dancing and I had watched him anxiously to see if my close friend would get jealous of attention I gave to other men.  He had never once appeared to be bothered or gone blank to hide his reactions and he had even encouraged me.  

“I missed you too,” I admitted to Ranger finally, keeping my attention focused firmly on Lester.  Lester broke out into a grin.  

“I was wondering if you’d say it,” Lester said.  “You’ve both been pretty unhappy.”

“Why didn’t you call, Babe?” Ranger asked.

“You left me,” I responded, voice as hard as I could make it.  “I was doing fine.  Things were getting better.”

“They didn’t for me,” he confessed.  I felt a fine trembling in his whole body where it was against mine through the blankets, as if he was holding something inside.   “It just got worse and worse until I had to get on a plane and come back up here.”

Lester looked at him suspiciously and I took his cue to study Ranger more closely.  I couldn’t see whatever had alerted Lester.  “Have you been drinking?”

“No.” Ranger said and his tone told us that it was a stupid question.

“Did Bobby drug you?” Lester pressed.

“No.”  There was a brief pause before Ranger continued, “But he threatened to if I didn’t get some sleep soon.”

Lester pulled away from me and sat up on the side of the bed.  The covers barely still over his groin.  “I’ll go.  You get some sleep and then get reaquainted with Stephanie.”

I grabbed Lester’s forearm, digging my nails in.  “Don’t leave me,” I pleaded.  I didn’t have the excuse of being drunk this time but it was no less true. “Everyone leaves me.”

“Ranger’s here,” Lester assured me.  

I shook my head.  “Him too.  And he will again.”

“I came back, Babe.”  I could practically feel the anguish pouring off of him but I hardened my heart to protect it.  

“Lester was always here,” I countered.

“And I’m not going anywhere,” Lester agreed.  “Ranger needs to hold you to sleep.  He’s had a rough time and isn’t coming straight from Miami.”

“Where were you?” I asked Ranger.

“Need to know, Babe,” he responded quietly.  “Tried to get you out of my head.  Almost got myself killed instead.”

“So stay here and help him get some sleep,” Lester continued.  “And if you want anything else from me, wherever, whenever, no matter what, you let me know.  No price tag.  No limits.”  Lester was deadly serious.  

Ranger made a sound that was almost a growl.  Lester and I ignored it.  We both expected that temperamental territorial stuff from him.   “You’re my best friend,” I told Lester, realizing as I said it, that it was true.  More than Mary Lou or anyone, Lester was my best friend.  I loved him but it was sweeter, softer, less turbulent and confused than my feelings for Ranger.

“You can’t just come back here and think everything is okay,” I said to Ranger.

“Can I sleep before we have this discussion, Babe?  Please?”  I could see the weariness on his face and it crumbled my resolve.  I nodded my consent and he stood beside the bed and started to strip.  Lester stood too so he could tuck Ranger in beside me.  Their body language never changed when they were naked.  It was as if the clothes didn’t matter to them.  Ranger gathered me in his arms.  I yawned as I watched Lester move around the room, taking the glass dildo and my rabbit into the bathroom to clean them before tucking them into my bedside table.  I dozed off, safe and warm in Ranger’s arms as I listened to Lester clean up.

When I woke again, the sun was higher in the air.  Lester stood in my bedroom doorway and Ranger held a gun on him.  I reached out and pushed Ranger’s hand slowly but firmly downward.  It wasn’t acceptable to threaten or hurt Lester.  “I brought breakfast beautiful, and coffee.  We need to get Marlo in today, remember?”

“I’ll go with her,” Ranger volunteered in a cold voice.  “You can leave.”

“Nope.”  I got out of bed and Lester handed me my robe, knowing I would want to be at least minimally dressed.  I drank my coffee and ate my egg sandwich while Lester brushed and braided my hair.  Ranger had gotten dressed and leaned against the counter, glaring at us both.  I could tell that he hated having Lester’s hands on me.  He just needed to get used to it.

I gave Ranger a long kiss full of promise before we left.  I could tell that he was a little shocked by my boldness.  I hadn’t really done that kind of thing often before he had gone to Miami.  The time alone and with Lester had taught me to talk more and act more on what I wanted.  It was kind of surprising that taking sex out of the equation had helped me learn to be satisfied so well.  

Lester and I got Marlo in easily enough and then went to Rangeman so I could work on some searches.  We had a routine.  I was determined not to let Ranger’s return undo the changes I had made.  I liked my life now.  The only thing missing had been him.  The control room and floor area was quieter and more subdued than usual, warning me that Ranger was in the building.  I worked on the searches for around 90 minutes before the tingle on the back of my neck announced that Ranger was watching me.  I looked up at him and he tilted his head towards his office.  I stood and followed him there.  My ESP had been improving after all of the time I had been spending at Rangeman.  He closed the door with such absolute care that I could tell he wanted to slam it but was too disciplined for a display of temper.  

“What’s going on with you and Lester, Babe?” he asked in a tightly controlled voice.

“We’re friends.”

“Funny.  You don’t generally have sex with your friends.  You were adamant about not having that kind of relationship with me.”

“First, Lester and I are not having sex.”

“Babe. You were naked in bed together.  And there were used sex toys on the floor.”

“True.  But it wasn’t sex.  Just some stress relief. We’re just friends.”  Ranger stared at me, waiting for the rest of the explanation so I rushed on, “And second, you don’t know how to do that kind of relationship with me.  You and I aren’t friends Ranger.  We may be in love until it kills us both but we’ll never really be friends.  You would warn any potential relationships away from me because you consider me yours.  Lester encourages me.  And if I find someone to actually date or whatever, he’ll be happy for me.”

“You love me?” He sounded dazed.  Maybe he hadn’t gotten enough sleep.  “You’ve never said it before.”

“That’s all you got from that?” I asked, incredulously.  “Of course I love you.  Otherwise you couldn’t hurt me as much as you do.”

“Babe…” He trailed off.  It wasn’t like one of his usual one word sentences.  This was more like he didn’t know what to say.  “I do love you, Babe,” he said finally and opened his arms.  I stepped immediately into his arms and it was like coming home after a long absence.  

Later we talked more, about what Lester and I had and had not done.  Ranger didn’t like it.  It was obvious every time Lester or one of the other men touched me.  I had never pictured Ranger as insecure but his jealousy made this chink in his armor very visible.  It was driving him insane but I didn’t want to be caged away from my friends.  I had depended on them to anchor me while he was gone and teach me and I cared about them.  More, I could tell that our friendships were important to them.  I wouldn’t abandon my friends because Ranger was back.  If he couldn’t accept that, he could go again.  He didn’t like knowing that at all.  

Rangeman became tense with Ranger’s temper always close to the surface.  Then one day, Lester gave me a hug and stole a quick kiss.  Ranger punched him for it, knocking him out.  After he woke, I followed Lester down to the infirmary where Bobby wanted to watch him for a bit for a concussion.  

Later, I cornered Ranger. I told him to get a handle on the jealousy and prove that he can accept my friends or lose me forever.  As ultimatums go, it was a little cruel.  Then I grabbed Hector as backup and took 10 days away at the beach to give him time to think.  When I came back, he invited me  to come upstairs.  Tank had moved down to Miami over the week I was gone and the seventh floor was Ranger’s again.  Lester was waiting on Ranger’s bed.

“What’s going on here?” I asked.  

Lester pointed to Ranger hovering in the bedroom doorway behind me.  “It’s his show,” Lester explained.

“Ranger?” I prompted when the man in black didn’t say anything.  

“You want me to prove that I can share and…” Ranger looked like I was asking him to swallow a bug.  “Play nice.”

“You know that I didn’t mean whatever you think we’re doing here, right?  I’m okay with being exclusive sexually with you and no more almost sex with Lester or anyone else.  But you have to deal with the platonic touching.”

“This will prove that I can behave.”

“So...what is this exactly.”

“Whatever you want,” Ranger told me.  “Just this once.”

I stared at him in shock for a moment, unable to believe that he was offering what I thought he was offering.  Then I looked at Lester.  He was dressed in his usual Rangeman work uniform minus the boots.  “Just tell us what you want, Beautiful.  Your wish is our command tonight.”

My cheeks got hot.  “I don’t know about this.”

Lester approached Ranger and I but instead of reaching for me, he threw an arm over Ranger’s shoulders.  Ranger tensed up but held still.  I looked at them touching, thought of the times I had seen Lester and one of the men I knew was gay almost touch and ruined my panties or pulled Lester into a closet afterwards.  I knew Lester knew about those fantasies.  I wondered if he had told Ranger or if Ranger had suggested this.  And then I thought that Ranger had probably meant that he would leave and let Lester and I play, like he was giving me Lester one last time as a present.  

“Are you really offering this?” I asked.  “Are you okay with this?”

Ranger looked confused briefly before he looked at Lester standing right against him and understanding crossed his face.  “Babe?”

“Use words Stephanie,” Lester reminded me.  We had worked on that so hard but I disliked it.  He knew, damn him!  Lester knew what I wanted but he must not have told Ranger.  

“How comfortable are you touching another man?” I asked Ranger.  Lester was very comfortable, I knew, though he had said that he preferred to be the Top.  His comfort with the dildo in his ass proved that he could be the bottom too, right?  

Ranger shrugged.  “I don’t prefer it but I can be flexible.”  His voice was wary.  

“He’s been a very bad boy, Beautiful,” Lester said, grinning at me.  “Hitting me.  Doing the jealous cave man thing.  Here’s your chance to punish him.  He’ll do anything to prove he’s sorry and can do better.”

“No restraints,” Ranger said.  “I haven’t been back long enough.”

“You mean you’ll let me use them another time?” I asked.  I couldn’t keep the eagerness out of my voice.  Lester had let me tie him up and tease him for a while.  It had been a lot of fun.

“I told you once that I might be sick sexually.  There’s not much I haven’t tried,” Ranger  told me.  

“What does that mean?” I asked, warily.  

“Take the purity ring off, Beautiful.  Let us show you.”

I looked at the ring still on my hand.  In the few weeks since Ranger’s return, I had used the things I had learned with Lester to keep (from) not having sex while I got to know him again.  Ranger should have been thanking Lester instead of hitting him.  Then I slid the ring off and handed it to Lester.  “True Love Waits,” he read, showing the inscription to Ranger.  “Guess you're her true love.”

“Babe?” Ranger said, sounding a little surprised.  

“True love or not, you can’t keep beating up my friends.”

“I won’t, Babe.  After this, everything will be in perspective.”

“He means, nothing will be as hard as watching me with you,” Lester explained.

“Is he going to watch? I thought we would all be able to…” I trailed off, still shy.  Oddly, it was Ranger who made me hesitate.  I had spent a lot of time with Lester coaxing me to talk about this stuff so I felt more secure with him.  Ranger’s reactions mattered, a lot.  That made it more difficult.  

“I had suggestions for how he could make it up to both of us.  He needs to be punished, remember?”  Lester gave me a shit-eating grin.  I could tell that he thought this would be  a lot of fun.

“Doesn’t love forgive?” I asked philosophically.

“Call it a reminder, Babe.  Anything physical will be more fun for me than punishment.  The real punishment will be watching you and him.”

I stepped into Ranger’s arms, giving him a tight hug.  Lester’s arm was still around Ranger and for a moment, he put an arm behind my back and hugged us both from the side.  Then I felt lips on my cheek and turned slightly to watch him give the same light kiss to Ranger.  “Don’t get so serious,” Lesters advised.  “Shower first,” he added, releasing us to head for the bathroom.  I knew that the showering was for me, not because he cared whether we were clean.  I felt less self conscious if I showered first so I knew I was clean and it was easier to get undressed for a shower than to get undressed with sex in mind.  Neither man shared my hang up but they were willing to indulge it.

We washed each other.  I was stunned by how comfortable Ranger and Lester seemed with each other.  I was getting turned on just watching them and they weren’t even doing anything overly sexual.  After the shower, Lester told Ranger to go to the bedroom and be ready for us.  Lester helped me brush my hair so it wouldn’t get too wild and gave me some suggestions.

When we entered the room, Ranger’s ass was the first thing we saw, raised up with his head and shoulders pressed into the bed.  There might be nothing sexier than a strong and dominant man on his knees, his ass exposed and vulnerable, begging for my touch.  But first, I wanted to see that ass pink.  I wondered if Lester was right and he really would enjoy it.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

“Please, Babe.”  Ranger wiggled his ass slightly in the air, taunting me.  

As Lester had coached while we dried off, I warmed up his bottom, preparing him with light taps before "whap!" I slapped his ass cheek. The place I had hit turned slightly pink, but my guy didn't even flinch. Clearly I was going to have to be tougher.

Whap! This time my hand slapped the surface of the skin harder, stinging my hand. And he flinched, but just barely.   Next I began to slap without warning, over and over, until my hand was burning with pain, tears in my own eyes beginning to form. I could see him tightening and relaxing, trying to accept the pain, until finally my hand hurt too much to continue.  

When I was finished, I let my hand rest on the hot skin for a moment, rubbing.  “Please, Babe,” Ranger moaned, lifting his hips like a cat in heat.  I was surprised when Lester appeared at my side holding what looked like a short, oddli shaped dildo with a flared base.  I recognized it as a butt plug.  “Let me show you,” Lester told me.  “So you know for next time.”

“Next time?” I asked. Lester just shrugged but his look was knowing.  

First, he ran his finger lightly around and around that little brown pucker. Next, he lay the slightly lubed pad of his forefinger on Ranger’s ass, which began to open, pulling his finger in, deeper and deeper. He took my hand and guided it so my finger joined his, slowly moved our fingers around and around, stretching and opening Ranger’s asshole, until he begged for the plug.

We placed the heavily lubed plug on the outside of his asshole. "Do you really want this?" I asked. I held the plug still as he pressed backward, his ass swallowing that dark piece of glass until, with a pop, it was deep inside him.

"Turn over," I demanded, as now I was uncontrollably horny.  I wasn’t sure why spanking him and putting a plug in his ass had left me so wet but I couldn’t wait anymore and Lester had shown me that my first orgasm didn’t need to be the last of the night.  Ranger lay on his back as I straddled his face, my cunt over his mouth, my juices dripping onto his tongue. He sucked my clit like a parched man might suck dew off a blade of grass, gently but with desperation. He slid his tongue into my pussy as if he were trying to drain me of all my juices.

I lay back, my hair brushing his hard cock. His knees were bent, his hips pushing the plug deeper and deeper into his asshole as he dug his tongue into my pussy.  Then I felt a hand slide under my head, supporting it.  A second hand was working on Ranger’s cock and I wished I could see.  I began to rock and moan until waves of orgasm overtook me, my juices covering his face, my legs squeezing his head. I still don't know if he was able to breathe while I came.

Lester helped me roll off of Ranger, kissing me on the mouth deeply as he lay on his back and pulled me on top of him.  Ranger growled and reached for me.  “You said this was okay,” I reminded him, “just this once.”

“Babe…”  Ranger trailed off.  His cock jutted out in front of him, hard and wanting and ignored.  

I pointed to the chair in the corner of the room.  “This is really the moment of truth.  Why don’t you watch for a bit?” I suggested.  Ranger set his jaw,  gave me a view of the base of the butt plug as he crawled off of the bed, and then sat on the wooden chair someone had placed in the corner.  

Lester shifted us to give Ranger a side-view.  Then we kissed again.  I was straddling him, my wet pussy rubbing against his cock through the thin barrier of the condom he had slid on before I made contact, clit bumping lightly against the head as I rocked  against him.  I could have an orgasms that way.  We both could and agreed that it wasn’t sex, though it was a very fine line.  Today I had taken the purity ring off.  I felt a lubed finger press against my ass and my eyes widened.  

“It’s okay,” Lester reassured me.  “Relax.  Trust me.”  I nodded my consent and just tried to feel without panicking.  He rubbed, pressed in slightly, retreated, rubbed.  It was almost like a massage.  His hips lifted underneath me, bumping my clit over and over with the head of his cock, distracting me until he fisted his condom-covered cock with the lubed hand and gave it a few strokes. Then he maneuvered us so he was pressed against my rear entrance.  He slid against me and it didn’t hurt.  I was on top and in control so I felt safer than having someone attempting to shove themselves in where they didn’t belong.  As soon as I relaxed, Lester slid right in a couple of inches easily because of the amount of lube.  I froze and my ass tightened around him.  He moaned and the sound was echoed by Ranger watching us.  I studied Ranger for a moment.  His hands were gripping the sides of the seat by his legs hard enough so the the muscles corded and stood out against his skin.  His cock was still hard, despite being ignored, and a thin trail of pre-cum beaded on the tip.  

Lester rubbed my clit a bit and I sank down lower to get more contact, impaling his cock deeper in my ass.  It burned slightly but mostly it just felt full and hot.  He guided my hand down between my legs, until I was fingering my clit while he played with my nipples.  I rocked on him, grinding his cock in and out of my ass while watching Ranger on the chair.  Pre-cum stretched in a clear line from the tip of his cock to his thigh until he lifted one hand off of the chair and gave himself a few strokes.  His hips rocked, pushing the butt plug in and out of his ass as he watched us.  Lester’s hands were on my hips, quickening my pace on his cock but it wasn’t too fast.  My orgasm triggered his and he came with a grunt.  I leaned forward and lay against him.  Sweat slicked skin pressed together as his arms came around me and held me for a long moment.  

There was a slight sound from Ranger.  He was gripping the chair with both hands again.  I pulled away from Lester and his cock slid out of me, leaving me feeling a little empty back there.  I straddled Ranger on the chair and gave him a kiss.  His arms held me tight.  Somewhere in the back of my mind, I registered that my wet pussy was pressing against his damp, pre-cum covered cock without a condom.  It was Ranger though.  It felt right to be with him without the barriers.  I pressed against him, rocking slowly, pressed chest to chest.  I knew he had to be very close after watching that show and not cumming.  A slight shift from me let his cock enter my pussy and we both moaned.  The third orgasm would be my last.  I couldn’t go more than that without being too sensitive and I knew it would be fast.  I was already over-sensitized and this was Ranger.  He just held me still for a minute, frozen while penetrating me to the hilt.  

I heard the rustle of clothes as Lester dressed.  He came right up behind me, giving me a hug from behind and wrapping his arms around Ranger too.  Then he was gone.  The door closed behind him with a slight click as Ranger began to thrust inside of me.  Clit pressed against rough pubic hair.  Ranger murmured in spanish in my ear.  I exploded one last time and he followed me over that edge.  

Later, we cuddled in the bed.  Part of me wanted to rehash the night.  He had been turned on by watching me fuck Lester.  He just didn’t like it when he could see the caring and intimacy between me and the other man.  It was an interesting twist to the the jealousy and more going on than I had realized initially.  The rest of me wasn’t worried.  The part of my life that had been sexual exploration with Lester was over.  My life with Ranger was just beginning. 


End file.
